Safety

Law may be named after boy who died on bus

BOSTON — A Massachusetts law that requires first aid training for school bus drivers was passed in 2008, after 5-year-old Darnell Cobb choked on a paper fastener while riding a bus.

Now, the state House has approved a bill to name that measure “Darnell’s Law” in honor of the boy and his family.

The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

State Rep. John Binienda introduced the naming bill as well as the earlier first aid bill. A legislative aide told MetroWest Daily News that Binienda had been filing and refiling the first aid bill for about 20 years, and Darnell’s death in 2008 helped it gain support and become law.

Time constraints reportedly kept the law from being named after Darnell before it passed, so Binienda’s new bill aims to secure that tribute.

"To have that bill in his name for another family, for another child, it means a lot to me," Darnell’s mother, Sonja Cobb, told WBZ.

Video reportedly shows that the Connecticut driver did not conduct a child check and left a 6-year-old alone on the bus. He is charged with risk of injury to a minor and second-degree reckless endangerment.